The European Union has prepared yet another package of economic sanctions against Russia, while more specific decisions will be taken after the development of the situation in Ukraine becomes clear. This was stated by the President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaite.

“It is decided that the application of the prepared package of economic sanctions will depend on the continued assessment of the situation in Ukraine,” said Grybauskaite.

Sanctions will be more stringent than previous ones. The measures will be discussedn on Wednesday this week before the meeting of the EU Council. It is possible that new sectors of the Russian economy will be included in the sanctions list, but Lithuania has not yet been able to confirm this.

Previous sanctions against Russia were limited and did not directly damage the economy of the country. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has already reported that sanctions against certain sectors will worsen their financial condition and will increase capital outflow. As a result, the ruble rate will continue to decline with accelerating inflation. It is also possible that the investment will continue to decrease.

In the medium and short term, Russia has the capacity and reserves to compensate for economic damage, but further deterioration of the situation may lead to an additional reduction in GDP growth.

In the US, work continues on the bill titled “The Act on the Prevention of Aggression by Russia 2014”. The Act is intended to prevent “further Russian aggression towards Ukraine and other sovereign states in Europe and Eurasia.” It specifies specific economic sanctions against individual Russian companies, as well as steps to allocate assistance to Ukraine.

Despite the support of sanctions against Russia from the leaders of many EU countries, business is concerned about possible tightening of restrictions. According to the Eastern Economic Committee of Germany, which defends the interests of German companies and businessmen, sanctions against Russia jeopardize about 25 thousand jobs in the country. The State Secretary of Italy for European Affairs Sandro Gotsi also spoke out against the sanctions.

Inessa S is an Editor, Journalist and Translator at FRN. She was educated in the field of Political Science and has previous marketing and communications strategy experience for enterprises and corporations. She runs a popular YouTube channel for translations of key Russian Foreign Policy figures and appears regularly on other alternative media channels. If you like her work, you can support her Patreon here.